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A location scout for hit Netflix show "Narcos" has been shot dead in Mexico while looking for places to film the programme's fourth season. Carlos Muñoz Portal, 37, was found dead in his car - his body riddled with bullets - in a violent region of central Mexico that lies 60km from Mexico City.

Munoz Portal, whose scouting credits include the James Bond film "Spectre" as well as "Fast & Furious" and "Sicario" was killed Monday in a remote town called Temascalapa, in Mexico state, according to local media.

Nationwide murders hit a record high in May, according to the latest official data: 2,186 homicides, an average of 70 a day and the most since the country began keeping track 20 years ago.

The violence is fuelled by powerful, ultra-violent drug cartels and criminal gangs.

Since Mexico deployed the military to fight organized crime in 2006, a wave of bloodshed has left more than 200,000 people dead or missing, as rival cartels wage war on each other and the army.

Netflix said in a statement: "We are aware of the passing of Carlos Muñoz Portal, a well-respected location scout, and send our condolences to his family," adding: "The facts surrounding his death are still unknown as authorities continue to investigate."

Claudio Barrera, a spokesperson for the Attorney General of the State of Mexico, could only speculate as to what happened to Portal since there are no known witnesses to his death, according to local reports.

Portal’s last Instagram post was shared Sunday of a field in his hometown of Puebla, Mexico.

A friend of Portal's, who was pictured with him in an image on Facebook, shared a post suggesting that the truth behind the death may never be known.